Death Portrayed in Romantic Poetry

The romantic poets typically were inspired by emotion and imagination. As Dr. Salah Mahajna (1) writes, "The key word for romanticism is freedom to give reign to one's emotions and dreams." Romanticism is associated with powerful emotions. In his famous "Preface," William Wordsworth wrote that "all good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (Mahajna 1). Few feelings create as powerful emotions as the fact of human mortality or death. Death and reaction to the inevitable condition of human beings was one of the main themes to occupy the romantic poets from Wordsworth and John Keats to William Blake and Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

Romanticists also viewed nature as the ultimately expression of life and emotion. In romantic poems that focus on death, death is typically viewed with bitter lament as an end of life for human beings despite nature's eternal condition, or it is viewed as a reconnection to nature, a form of returning to a more whole and communal existence. However the romantic poet viewed death, one thing is quite certain. They expressed their vision of it through very powerful feelings and emotions in their work. This analysis will discuss the concept of death as it appears in the poetic works of various romantic poets, including Wordsworth, Blake, Keats, and Coleridge. A conclusion will address why death continues to be a theme that occupies poets in many genres, despite the unique perspective given i

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h. The view of death as the beginning of a new life often stems from this lament. In Keats' "Ode to a Nightingale" we see this theme is apparent in the speaker's recognition of the horrific effects of age and the threat of death. As the speaker informs us, "My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains / My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk, / Or emptied some dull opiate to the drains / One minute past, and Lethe-wards had sunk" (Keats 1). The speaker is preoccupied with death in this poem. Even though he recognizes the impact of old age, he tells us "for many a time / I have been half in love with easeful Death / Call'd him soft names in many a mused rhyme" (Keats 2). The focus on death witnessed here is representative of romantic poets, but we see that nature is a vital part of dealing with the topic for romantic poets. In "Ode to a Nightingale" we see that Keats' speaker recognizes the impact of aging and knows Death will be coming for him. However, even though the speaker seems to lament this fact, we see that Keats also sees nature of something more perfect and eternal compared to human existence. He recognizes that the Nightingale he hears singing has sang for centuries and will continue to sing for ete

Category: Literature - D